Grading-machine.



No. 888,665. 7 PATENTED MAY 26, 1908. A. W. SNOW.

GRADING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 8EPT.20, 1907.

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7 PATENTED MAY 26. 1903.

A. snow. GRADING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1907.

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ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES;

THE mamas PETERS ca, wnsnmanm, m c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR W. SNOW, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

GRADING-MACHINE Application filed September 20, 1907.

- vision of a machine capable of standing or tion.

moving upon part of a roadway and of drawing earth or ballast from both sides of the roadway at either the same or at different times, as desired, to raise the height of the road bed, or to fill in a depression therein.

It has for a further object the provision of a machine adapted to stand or move upon a part of a railway track and to overhang a depressed portion of said track forward of its supporting portion and adapted to lift the rails and ties of the depressed portion of roadbed and to hold such lifted portion in suspended position and at the same time to draw or push in earth or other ballast from the sides of the road bed to a position beneath the suspended ties, so as to build the depressed portion of the road-bed up to the suspended ties.

IVith these, and other objects in view, it consists, in its'preferred form, or forms, of the constructions, combinations and arrange ments of parts hereinafter described and claimed. I I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, represents a plan view of the supporting car and boom forming part of my invention, the shovel carriage being omitted to better disclosethe boom construction. Fig. 2, is a central vertical section of a modified form of one of the shovels forming part of my inven- Fig. 3, is a side elevation partly in central vertical longitudinal section, of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is a central vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the turn table forming part of my invention. Fig. 5, is an enlarged front elevation partly broken. away of the supporting car forming part of my invention; the boom being shown in vertical transverse section, and the shovel carriage being omitted. Fig. 6, is an enlarged outside elevation of the lower end of one of the shovel arms and of the shovel attached Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 26, 1908.

Serial No. 393,790.

thereto. Fig. 7, is an enlarged front elevation, partly broken away of the shovel. car-. riage forming part of my invention, said carriage being adapted to move longitudinally on the boom attached to the supporting car. Fig. 8, is an enlarged vertical longitudinal. sectional view of the shovel carriage approximately on the irregular line AB of Fig. 7.

In building roads or railroads, it is often necessary or desirable to'build very roughly at first, in order, among other reasons, to reach the locations for fills to which earth to be removed from necessary cuts may be taken, or in order to reach the locations forcuts from which to obtain the material for fills. This results in a temporary roadbed having grades of excessive height or depth which must later be built up to a more uniform and practicable grade. In building up the grade of a railway after laying the ties and rails, it has heretofore been the custom to jack up the superstructure of the track by manually operated jacks and to employ a gang of hand'.

shovel men, sometimes numbermg fifty or more individuals, to fill in earth or ballast beneath the raised track and to tamp it home.

One purpose of my invention is to obviate the necessity of employing so much expensive human labor and yet to accomplish the desired work effectively in the same or less time.

In the drawings, 1, is the road bed upon which is laid a track including the ties 2, and

rails 3. Positioned upon said track is a car, comprising any suitable form of trucks, as 4. and 5 upon which is mounted in any suitable manner any suitable form of car body 6. Upon said car body is mounted a turn table of any suitable construction, but prefera'bly comprising the circular rings 7 and 8; said ring 8 being adapted to slide in a groove formed in said ring 7. If desired, segments may be omitted from said rings at the sides of the car body, and, if desired, antifriction devices, not shown, of any suitable form or construction, as balls, rollers or wheels, may be interposed between said rings, or between said car body and the platform above it. Mounted upon said turntable and forming part thereof is an oscillatable frame or platform 9, upon which is erected a boiler 10 and engines 11 of any suitable construction. Upon the car body 6 is secured at any suitable point a rack, as 6 concentric with the turn table, and engaging said rack are two 25 12 is adapted to mesh with a pinion 19 pinions as 12 (only one of which is shown) supported by said platform at opposite sides of said platform, and each arranged to rotate in the same direction as the other, so that when the platform is swung far enough in one direction to carry one of said pinions out of engagement with said rack, the opposite pinion will remain in engagement with said. rack. If it benot desired to swing the platform very far in either direction, one of said pinions may be omitted and the posiwhich is adapted to engage a clutch 18 which is splined to said shaft 1.7. The shaft 17 is turned by the engines 11 (Fig. 1). The part carried by a shaft 19 (Fig. 1), extending across the platform and carrying at its opposite end a pinion 20 which meshes with a pinion 21 carried on the head of the shaft of a pinion not shown, which, is similar in operation to the pinion 1.2. Mounted upon said platform is a forwardly extending boom 22, which is normally carried in a horizontal, or nearly horizontal position, but which preferably is adapted to be raised or lowered at its outer end. I therefore prefer to mount it upon trunnions or journaled shafts, as 23, mounted in bearings 24.

The outer end of the boom is preferably supported by suspending rods 25 extending down from masts 26 which masts are preferably'carried by trunnions or their equiva-' lents journaled in bearings 27 erected on said platform. Said masts are guyed by guy lines 1 28 preferably secured at their lower ends to screws 28 which pass through the internally threaded hubs of gear wheels 29 which are mounted in any suitable journal bearings as 30; Engaging said gear wheels or worm wheels, are worms 31 secured to a shaft 32 mounted in any suitable bearings, as 33, and carrying uponone end a pinion 34. Said pinion 34 is preferably adapted to mesh with a pinion 35 carried by a shaft 36 which carries at its opposite end a pinion 37. The latter pinion is adapted to mesh with a loose pinion 38 carried by said shaft 17 which is driven by the engines 11. Said pinion-38 is provided with a suitable hub adapted to engage a suitable clutch, as 39, splined to said' shaft 17; thus the engines may be employed to draw back upon the guy lines 28 to tilt the masts backward and thereby raise the outer end of the boom, or said screws may be extended to permit the masts to tilt forward and thus lower the forward end of the boom, said boom is preferably rectangular in form and its side bars are preferably composed of I-beams adapted to operate as supports and guides for the shovel carriage hereinafter described. If, however, other forms of side bars are provided, guides or slide ways for the shovel carriage may be formed on or secured to them, as will now be apparent to anyone skilled in the art. Said boom may, if desired, be stiffened laterally by any suitable form of side trusses as 40 and 41, (Fig. 1). The hereinafter described shovel carriage may be moved longitudinally along said boom by any suitable means such as by pinions (not shown) on the carriage, engaging racks (not shown) on the boom; but I prefer to move said carriage by a clutch or clutches mounted on the carriage, as hereinafter described, and adapted to engage one or the other of the sides of the loop of an endless cable 42 which cable is engaged at one end by a drum 43 carried on said platform and which cable is engaged at the opposite end by an idler pulley 44 mounted on the outer end of the boom. Said drum is preferably mounted loosely upon a shaft 45 journaled in suitable bearings erected upon said platform, and is provided with a suitable hub for engaging a suitable clutch 43 splined to said shaft. Upon said shaft 45 is keyed a sprocket wheel 46 which is connected by a belt 46 with a sprocket wheel 47 which is keyed to a shaft 48 journaled in suitable bearings on said platform. Upon said shaft 48 is keyed a sprocket wheel 48 which is connected by a sprocket belt 48 to a sprocket wheel 49 which is keyed to said shaft 17. Upon said boom are mounted in any suitable mannerbut preferably so as to be slidable or adjustable thereonbearings or pulley blocks, 50, 50 51 and51 supporting pulleys 52, 52 53 and 53, respectively, over which pulleys are rove hoisting cables 54, 54% 55 and 55*, respectively, which cables are secured at their inner ends to suitable drums on the shaft 48, and are adapted to be wound up thereby. Said drums, as 56, 57, 58 and 59 are preferably loosely mounted on said shaft and providedwith suitable hubs adapted to engage clutches as 56*, 57 58, and 59 splined on said shaft. If desired, guide wheels as 60, 61, 62 and 63, or any other or additional guide wheels may be provided to guide such cables or some of them. The outer ends of said cables may be secured directly to the rail clutch bars hereinafter de scribed or, in order to obtain a better purchase may be rove through suspended blocks, as, for example, the cables 54 and 54 may be rove through the blocks 63 and 64 and their extreme outer ends carried up and secured in eyes on said bearings 50, 50, respectively, or in any other suitable support, and the cables 55 and 55 may be rove through blocks (not shown) similar to the blocks 63 and 64, and their outer ends secured to eyes in any suitable overhead support, in which latter case the suspended blocks may be secured to the rail clutch bars hereinafter described. 65 is the rearward one of the rail clutch bars extending across the rails of the track and provided with clutches or hooks 66, 67, 68,

and 69, of any suitable construction for engaging the rails to lift the track. A similar clutch bar, not shown, is suspended from the cables 55 and 55 or from the blocks suspended thereby. Thus the track, or a portion of it including rails and ties may be lifted into suspension from said boom and raised to a height sufficient to permit of the shoveling or tamping of additional earth or ballast beneath it for the purpose of raising the grade.

Said car body is preferably made automobile, and for this purpose I prefer to mount centrally upon the axles of the forward trucks, sprocket wheels, 70 for engaging an endless drive chain 71 which also engages a' sprocket wheel 72 mounted on a shaft73 journaled in suitable bearings on the frame of said platform. Upon said shaft 73 is also mounted a driving sprocket 74 adapted to engage an endless sprocket chain 75 which extends through an opening 76 in the floor of said platform and engages a sprocket wheel 77 mounted on a shaft 77, upon which latter shaft is loosely mounted a gear 78 adapted to be driven by a gear 79 keyed to the shaft 17. Said gear 78 is provided with a suitable hub for engaging a clutch 78 splined to said shaft 7 7 If desired, however, the car driving mechanism may be. of any suitable form of the various car driving constructions known to the car builders art.

Mounted upon said boom so as to be slidable longitudinally thereon, is a shovel carriage (Figs. 7 and 8) comprising feet 80 upon which are erected posts 80 and 80 at each end of the carriage, from which posts extend transversely of the carriage at each end thereof cross beams 81, of any suitable structure or number, supported by said posts. Erected upon said cross beams are center or intermediate posts 82 and 82 at or near each end of said carriage. Suspended from said cross beams 81, by any suitable means affording necessary rigidity, as by I-beams 83 of any suitable number, are transverse guides or pairs of guides of any suitable construction as 84, 85, 86 and 87 within which are adapted to slide reciprocating bars, as 84 85 86, and87 Upon each of the bars 84 and 87 are formed racks, as 88 (Fig. 7) adapted to mesh with gears as 89 and 90, respectively, mounted upon a shaft 90?. Upon said shaft 90 is also mounted a gear 91, adapted to turn said shaft and to be driven by a gear 92 mounted on a shaft 93, which gear 93 is adapted to be turned by a worm 94 driven by an engine 95 mounted upon said carriage. But said slide bars may be driven by said engine by means of any other suitable train of gears or worms or intermediate mechanism without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. The slide bars 85 and 86 are adapted to be driven by an engine 96 by means of intermediate mechanism similar to, or equivalent to the mechanism above described for driving the bars 84 and 87 as will now be apparent to anyone skilled in the art. Mounted upon the posts 80 and 82 at one end of said carriage is a vertically slidable sash of any suitable construction as 97, and upon the similarposts at the opposite end of the carriage is mounted a similar sash 98. Mounted upon the posts 80 and 82 at one end of the carriage is a similar sash 99, and mounted upon the posts 80 and 82 at the opposite end of the carriage is a sash not shown but similar to the sash 99 and for con venience herein but not in the drawings referred to as 100; These four sashes are each provided with horizontal guideways within which are adapted to slide blocks as 101, which blocks have formed thereon racks as 101 adapted to engage worms as 102 carried by said sashes. Each of said sashes is provided with 2 vertical racks as 103 and 103 The sashes at the right hand side of the carriage are adapted to be raised and lowered simultaneously with each other, and those at the left hand side are adapted to be raised and lowered simultaneously with those on the right hand side or at different times therefrom. The sashes on the left hand side of the carriage may be raised and lowered by means of an engine 104 operating upon the sashes by means of worms as 105 and 106 each'operating one of the racks on each of the sashes on the said left hand side of the carriage by means of intermediate pinions and shafting, as in the case of the worm 106 by means of the pinions 107, 108 and 109 and the shaft 110; and in the case of the worm 105 by means of similar pinions and shaft.

The sashes on the right hand side of the carriage may be raised and lowered by means of an engine as 111 similar to the engine 104 and operating through mechanism similar to or equivalent to the mechanism through which the engine 104 operates upon the left hand sashes.

Extending from each of the sliding blocks 101 in the right hand sashes are shovel arms 112 which at their upper terminals are pivoted to said blocks, respectively, and which from their pivotal points extend upwardly and outwardly and downwardly and inwardly substantially as illustrated in the drawings. Near the lower ends of said arms there are pivotally connected to them or to a cross shaft or bar 123 hereinafter described, links, as 113 which at their opposite ends are pivotally connected to depending lugs formed on the bars 85 and 86 Thus when the slide bars 85 and 86 are reciprocated in one direction, the shovel arms 112 are drawn inwardly at their lower ends and when the bars 85 and 86 are reciprocated in the opposite direction the arms 112 are pushed outwardly at their lower ends. Intermediate of the upper and lower ends of said bars 112 is a shaft 112 connecting said arms, and upon said shaft is preferably journaled one or more additional shovel arms as 112 (Fig. 8) extending downwardly from said shaft and turning inwardly at their lower ends. The inner end of the shovel arms 112 and 112 are preferably forked, and any suitable form of shovels as 114 are pivotally connected with the inner lower ends of said arms. The said inwardly turned lower ends of said arms are provided with guides, as 115, within which are adapted to slide reciprocating bars 116, to the outer ends of which bars are pivotally attached links 117 which links are at their opposite ends pivotally connected with said shovels by pivoting means extending parallel to the pivots by which the shovels are hung on said shovel arms. Said reciprocating bars 116 are. provided with racks or notches as 116 adapted to engage means for holding them against movement, which latter means may consist of dogs 117 (Fig. 2) or of pinions 118 engaging said racks and in turn engaged'by worms 119. If the pinions 118 and worms 119 be em loyed, the worms may be manually turne by means of the cranks 120 to reciprocate the bars 116 when desired (Figs. 6 and 7 Said shovels are preferably of the form of hollow wedges, having side walls and a top wall and front wall and having knife edges at their lower ends approximately as illustrated in the drawings, and bein open at the back. If desired, the front walls may be hinged at their u per edges and arranged (Fig. 2) to swing c ear of the side walls at their lower edges when so desired, being at other times held in closed position by any suitable latches as 121. It will thus be seen that when the bars 116 are reciprocated to extreme position in one direction the lower or sharp ends of the shovels will be tilted up toward the track, and when said bars are re ciprocated tothe opposite extreme the upper or blunt ends of the shovels will be tilted in wardly toward the track and when the bars 116 are on center said shovels will stand vertical with their sharp edges down. If the dogs 117 (Fig. 2) be employed instead of the pinions 118 and worms 119 (Fig. 6) the shovels may be tilted by lifting the dogs out of engagement, by any suitable means, as by levers 117 (Fig. 2) and then touching the sharp ends of the shovels to the ground, at the same time lowering the sashes and either drawing in or thrusting out the shovel arms. hen the shovels have reached the desired inclination the dogs 117 may be again dropped into engagement with their racks.

It will be observed that some of the shovel arms are preferably j ournaled on the shaft 112. This is thought to be desirable in order to facilitate the use of smaller shovel blades than might otherwise be required and also to provide means whereby some of the shovels ,may be temporarily thrown out of action in case the strain on the battery of shovels is too great, or in case a difficult obstacle appears in the path of one or another of them. To look the arms journaled on the shaft 112 in active position, each of such journaled arms is provided with a suitable latch, as 122, adapted to engage a shaft or bar 123 across the longer shovel arms, and when so latched the pivots of the shovels at the lower ends of all the arms on the same side of the carriage'should be axially in alinement with each other.

Extending from the sliding blocks in the sashes on the left side of the carriage are shovel arms 124 and 124 substantially similar to those on the right side of the carriage, but extending downward and inward at the left side of the carriage as clearly indicated in the drawings. The arms 124 and 124" are connected by links 125 to the sliding arms 84 and 87 and in other respects are preferably e nipped with shovels and intermediate or aux i liary arms similar or equivalent to the shovels 114 and arms 112 and their operating devices. Preferably the forward and rearward links 125 operate the shovel arms at one side of the carriage and the central or intermediate links 113 operate the shovel arms at the other side of the carriage.

In order to move the shovel arm supporting blocks in the sashes at one side of the carriage as on the left side I provided a pinion face 102 on the end of each of the worms 102 in the left hand sashes, which pinion faces are adapted to engage pinions 125" at the upper ends of shafts 126 which shafts are supported by brackets 127 and are adapted to telescope through pinions 129 supported by brackets 130 (Fig. 8) and splined to said shafts. Said pinions 129 are adapted to engage pinions 131 carried at the upper ends of shafts 132 which shafts are supported by said brackets 130 and by brackets 133. The shafts 132 are provided with pinions 134 at their lower ends which pinions are adapted to extend through slots formed in the sides of the respectively adjoining guides 84 and 87 and to engage racks formed on the sides of the bars 84 and 87 which racks, so engaged extend only a part of the length of the bars 84 and 87 and are so arranged that they will run out of engagement with said pinions 1.34 in either direction when the blocks 101 have reached the predetermined limit of their travel in the same direction. The shovels will therefore normally travel in the arc of a circle when outside of the ends of the ties but when or just before they enter under the ties they will normally commci'ice to travel in a horizoi'ital plane without necessitating anysl'iortening of the shovel arms below their pivotal points.

In order to move the sliding blocks in the sashes on the right hand. side of the carriage, I provide means equivalent to the means above described; that is, I provide pinion. faces 102- on the ends of the worms in said sashes adapted to mesh with pinions as 125 carried by shafts 135 and 135*" (Fig. 8) res iiectively, wl'iicl'i shafts also carry pinions 136 adapted to mesh with pinions 137 carried by shafts 138 which latter shafts are adapted to telescope into shafts 139 to which they are slidably keyed. Said shafts 1.39 are provided with pinions 140 adapted to extend through slots in the sides of the respectively adjoining guides 85 and 86 and to engage suitable racks formed on the adjoining sides of the bars 85? and 86*. The worms 102 on either side of the carriage are both right or left threaded or one right and one left threaded as may be required in order. that the sliding blocks governed by them may each move in the same direction as the other at the same time.

In order to move the carriage backward and forward on said. boom, I provided clutches mounted on said carriage and comprising the base block 141, posts 142 bell crank levers 143 and 144 pivoted to said posts, shoes 143 and 144 pivoted to said bell crank levers. The hereinbefore described cable 42 runs over said block 141 and under said shoes; one side of said cable passing under one of said. shoes and the other side thereof passing under the other of said. shoes. At the rear of said carriage is suspended in any suitable manner an operators chair 1.45 adapted to seat the operator of the sash moving, shovel-arm moving and carriage moving mechanisms which'mechanisms he controls by any suitable systems of bell cranks and draw rods governing the valves of the several referred to engines on the carriage or connected to the said cable clutches as the casemay be. Certain of these bell crank and draw rod systems may be operated manually and others by foot power, as for ex ample the right hand and right foot may be employed to operate the bell cranks and rods to govern the engines on one side of the carriage and the right hand may be employedto govern one of the cable gripping clutches and the left hand and left foot may be employed to govern the engines on the opposite side of the carriage and the left hand may be employed to govern the other of said cable grip ing clutches. The valves may be normal y held at center, to shut off power, by any suitable springs, and the cable clutches may be normally held out of engagement by any suitable springs. Another operator is preferably employed on the platform 9 to operate the engines and various clutches thereon and operators may stand on any suitable foot boards (not shown) on the heels of the shovel arms, or maybe stationed on the ground, one or more on each side of the carriage, to operate the shovel tilting worms, or to disengage the shovel locking dogs or to perform any other required services.

The truck wheels may be either flanged car wheels or non-flanged wheels, both within the spirit and scope of my invention. If the machine is operated to grade a road upon which no ties or rails have been laid it will, of course be unnecessary to sus end the track, but the shovels may nevert eless be employed to raise the crown of the highway. Steam may be brought from the boiler to the carriage by any suitable conduit, but preferably by a jointed steam pipe 146, pivoted at one end in suitable bearings on the platform, and pivoted at the opposite end in suitable bearings on the carriage. The 0 posite arms of'said pipe mayif desired e counterbalanced by suspended weights 147 attached to cords 148 rove over pulleys 149, said cords being attached to said pipe at opposite sides of the central joint 146 thereof. From the platform end of this pipe any suitable hose connection may be made with the boiler, and from the shovel carriage end of said pipe, divergent hose connections will lead to the several engines on the shovel. carriage. As the carriage moves to and fro along the boom the jointed pipe will buckle at the central joint or straighten out to a greater or less degree according to'the direc-' tion and distance of movement of the shovel carriage.

It is obvious that without departing from 105 the spirit and scope of my invention, or of certain of my claims, said construction may be modified or altered in various details by transposing parts, varying the forms of parts, substituting equivalent parts, changing the 110 positions of some of the parts, omitting some of .the parts included by preference, or by other modifications. I regard my invention, however, as broadly generic in character and intend certain of my claims to be of broad 5 and com rehensive scope sufficient to cover all modi cations, equivalents or alterations or constructions not resulting in a radical departure from the basic theory of operation of my invention.

Before em loying my invention, a windrow of earth or allast may, if necessary or desired, be formed along both sides of the depressed portion of the track by dumping such material from cars or by any suitable means 125 of accumulation. The cars are then hauled away, and my invention is brought toposi tion at one end of the stretch to be graded, with the boom overhanging a de ressed portion of the track. The rail elutc es beneath 130 the boom are then engaged with the rails and a portion of the track is lifted clear of the road bed. The shovel arms are then if necessary moved downwardly so as to carry the shovels into the windrow, and said arms are then moved inwardly to push the earth or ballast beneath the sus ended ties. If the windrow is high it may e necessary to lower the sashes simultaneously with drawing in the shovel arms and if the windrow is low it may be necessary to raise the sashes simultaneously with drawing in the shovel arms. If a large tree stump or rock is encountered, the shovel to which it is opposite is temporarily thrown out of action in the manner hereinbefore described, until such obstacle is removed. If there is plenty of space beneath the suspended track the shovels are permitted to stand vertically as they move under the ties, but otherwise they are first tilted with their top ends inward. During the grading of such section of the roadbed, the carriage is moved along the boom as may be required. Before the shovels reach the vertical plane of the ends of the ties the upper ends of the shovel arms will begin to move inward along the sashes, so that the shovels will travel on a horizontal plane instead of in the are of a circle. After building u the road bed as high as can be done by one lift of the track, another section may be lifted and the bed thereunder graded up to the ties, and so on to the end of depressed section, after which the machine may if necessary be run over the same section again, lifting the track a second or a third or more times until the roadbed has been graded up to the desired level, after which the machine may be sent to another depressed area or fill. If the general trend of the ultimate grade is down, the outer end of the boom may be lowered. If the general trend of the grade is up, the outer end-of the boom may be raised. The ways or guides for the carriage feet and for all sliding parts should be well lubricated. If the machine is operating over a curve, the platform may be swung to right or left on the car body, as may be required to move the boom into suitable position over the track ahead.

If desired, the pinions 131 and 136 may be lodsely mounted on their shafts and brought into action by means of any suitable form of clutches (not shown) keyed 'to the pinion shafts so that the travel of the slide blocks along the sashes may be prevented by withdrawing the power.

What I claim is,

1. In a road or track grading machine, the combination with a suitable support, of a boom extending therefrom, a carriage mounted on said boom, shovel arms mounted on said carriage and extending outward and downward and inward at each side thereof, shovels mounted on the lower inward ends of said arms, means for raising and lowering said arms, and means for thrusting outward and for drawing inward the lower ends of said arms.

2. In a grading machine, the combination with a suitable support, of shovel arms mounted thereon and extending outwardly and downwardly and inwardly at the opposite sides thereof, means for raising and lowering said shovel arms, means for thrusting out and for drawing in said shovel arms, and shovels mounted on the lower inner ends of said shovel arms.

3. In a grading machine, the combination. withv a suitable support or frame, of shovel arms mounted on said frame and extending outwardly and downwardly and inwardly at opposite sides of said. frame, means for thrusting out or drawing in the lower ends of said shovel arms, means for automatically thrusting out or drawing in the upper ends of said shovel arms a limited distance in the same direction of movement as their lower endsv after their lower ends have moved far enough inward or outward to bring the intermediate portions into approximately vertical posi tion, and shove s mounted upon the inner lower ends of said arms.

4. In a grading machine, the combination of a suitable support, shovel arms mounted thereon and extending outwardly and downwardly at opposite sides thereof, means for raising and lowering said shovel arms, means for thrusting out or drawing in the lower ends of said shovel armsand shovels carried and operated by said arms.

5. In a grading machine, the combination with a suitable su port, of shovel arms mounted thereon an extending outward and downward respectively at the opposite sides of said support, means for moving said shovel arms downward and upward, means for thrusting out or drawing in the lower ends of said arms, means for automatically moving the upper ends of said arms a limited distance in the same direction of outward or inward movement as their lower ends after said lower ends have moved sufficiently outward or inward to bring the intermediate portions of said arms into approximately vertical posi tion, and shovels carried and operated by said arms.

6. In a grading machine the combination of a suitable support, of shovel arms carried thereby and extending outward and down ward at each side thereof, tiltable shovels ivotally mounted on said arms and means or holding said shovels in one or another of the positions to which they may be tilted.

7. In a grading machine, the combination with a suitable su port, of shovel arms mounted thereon an extending downwardly therefrom, respectively at opposite sides of said support, other shovel arms pivotally connected to and supported by the first said shovel arms, and shovels carried by each of said shovel arms.

8. In a grading machine, the combination of a suitable support, sliding blocks mounted on said support, shovel arms pivotally connected to said blocks one to each block, and having downwardly extending portions, one of said shovel arms depending at one side of said support and one of said shovel arms depending at the opposite side of-said support,

inks pivotally connected to the downwardly depending portions of said shovel arms respectively, slidable blocks or bars pivotally connected to said links, guides formed on or secured to said support and adapted to engage said slidable bars to direct their movement transversely of said support, means for actuating said slidable blocks to cause them each independently of the other to draw in or thrust outward the lower ends of said shovel arms respectively, and shovels carried by said arms.

9. The combination with a suitable support, of vertically movable parts mounted thereon, other parts mounted on said vertically moving parts and adapted to' move thereon transversely with respect to said support, shovel arms pivotally mounted on said transversely movable parts and having depending portions, one of said shovel arms depending at one side of the central vertical longitudinal plane of said support and one of said shovel arms depending at the other side of the central vertical longitudinal plane of said support, means for moving said vertically movable parts in a vertical direction, means for moving said transversely moving parts in a transverse direction, and shovels carried by said shovel arms.

10. The combination with a suitable support, of shovel arms mounted thereon and having depending portions, means adapted to move said depending portions uniformly throughout their length a limited distance either inward toward the central vertical longitudinal plane of said support or outward therefrom as desired without effecting a si multaneous vertical movement of said arms, and shovels carried by said arms.

1 1. The combination of a suitable support, of a shovel arm mounted thereon, means for thrusting out or drawing in said shovel arm at one end, means for'thrusting out or drawing in said shovel arm at the opposite end, intermediate means engaging the means for thrusting out or drawing in the said one end and also engaging the means for thrusting out or drawing in the said opposite end and adapted to transmit operative power from the first said means to the second said means during a portion of the movement of the first said means, and a shovel carried by said arm and adapted to be operated thereby.

12. The combination with a suitable support, of a shovel arm mounted thereon,

means adapted to move said shovel arm in a vertical direction, means adapted to move said shovel arm in a horizontal plane uniformly throughout its length either during said vertical movement or in the absence of said vertical movement, and a shovel carried by said shovel arm and adapted to be oper ated by it.

13. The combination with a suitable sup port, of a shovel arm mounted thereonand aving a depending portion and an inturned portion or foot at the lower end of said depending portion, a shovel carried by said inturned foot at the free end thereof, and means for thrusting out or drawing in the lower end of said shovel arm.

14. In a grading machine, the combination of a support, a carriage mounted on said support and adapted to move longitudinal y thereof means mounted in part on said carriage and in part on said support for moving said carriage in one direction or the other longitudinally thereof, a shovel arm mounted on said carriage and depending at one side thereof and provided with an inturned portion at its lower end, a shovel mounted on the free end of said inturned portion, vertically movable gripping devices suspended from said support and adapted to pick up an obstacle or obstacles. beneath said support and carriage and to suspend such obstacle or obstacles above a ortion of the predetermined path of said shovel, and means for thrusting out or drawing in the lower end of said shovel arm.

15. In a grading machine, the combination of a' support, a turn table mounted on said support, a boom extending outwardly from said turntable, a carriage mounted on said boom andadapted to move longitudinally thereof, means for moving said carriage along said boom, means for turning said turntable horizontally on said support, means carried by said turn table for su porting said boom at its outer end, said atter means being adapted to raise or lower the outer end of said boom, and a shovel carried by said carriage.

16. A grading machine including a support, an oscillating frame or platform mounted thereon, a boom extending outward from said frame, means for oscillating said frame, a carriage mounted on said boom and ada ted to move longitudinally thereof, means or moving said'carriage longitudinally of said boom, a gripping device adapted to grip an objector objects extending beneath said carriage, means for raising and lowering said gripping device and its load, and shovels su ported by said carriage.

17. In agra ing machine, the combination of a movable support, a frame or platform mounted on said support, means mounted in part on said platform for moving said sup port from place to place, a boom extending outwardly from said platform, a vertically movable gripping device suspended from said boom, said device including rail clutches, means for raising and lowering said gripping device and means carried by saidboom and adapted to draw or push earth or ballast to a position beneath the suspended gripping device.

18. In a grading machine, the combination with a support, of a boom extending outwardly therefrom, a grip ing device sus- Jended from said boom, siovels supported by said boom and adapted to move by either a swinging or non-swinging movement in the vertical transverse plane of said boom and to extend during part of said movement to a position beneath said gripping device, and means for moving said shovels inwardly to such position.

19. In a grading machine, the combination of a support, a carriage mounted on said support and movable longitudinally thereof, a shovel mounted on said carriage and adapted to move in a straight course in a transverse direction relative to said support and to extend during part of such movement to a osition beneath said support, and means or eiiecting the movement of said shovel.

20. In a grading machine the combination of a support, a shovel mounted thereon and adapted to move in a straight course in a transverse direction relative to said support and to extend during a part of such movement to a position beneath said support, and means for moving said shovel to and from such position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR W. SNOW. Witnesses:

JAMES T. WATSON, W. J. HOLMES. 

